THE PERFECT PICNIC

Welcome picnic hoppers to my day of The Perfect Picnic Blog Hop.  Haven't all these picnics been so fun and the picnic quilts and memories that have been made....  Oh La La!

First let me thank our fabulous cheerleader for this whole shebang of a picnic blog hop, the one, the only Ms Mary at IPiece2Mary.  She's done a fabulous job.  And the master mind behind all this, the one, the only Madamme Samm at Sew We Quilt.

Second, a huge thank you to our sponsors for the Picnic Hop Riley Blake Fabrics for supplying the laminates for the backing of several of the quilts featured on the hop and Peterboro Baskets for supplying baskets to some of the bloggers.  After all, what would a picnic be without a basket or a quilt and don't forget the ants?

And Third, last but not least, I hope you have an imagination for the remainder of this post because you're going to need it.  You see, I'm a procrastinator from the word go and of course it bit me in the behind this time.  I knew I'd be doing my project at the last minute anyway due to graduation, however, I wasn't counting on my Queenie (aka Longarm Quilting Machine) to break down.  And that she did.  I finished the quilt top on Wednesday and the backing; which is a whole other quilt in itself on Thursday, rolled them into the quilting frame Thursday evening to be ready to go on Friday morning.  I almost had one pass across the quilt finished and that's where things went wrong.  You can read about it here.    After a frantic phone call to Mdm Samm, she assured me the we all have hiccups and for me to post what I have and carry on with the picnic.  And that's what I did.

As you might already know, there were a few requirements

1. We needed a quilt
2. We needed entertainment (books, games, etc.)
3. We needed a picnic basket
4. We needed a menu
5. We needed photos of the event.

So... #1 QUILT
I know all of you are anxious to see my quilt and here's where your imagination comes in.  It's still on the frame so there are no great and wonderful pictures.  I pinned the top to the wall behind the machine so the quilt looks upside down but it really isn't.  I rotated the picture but then it looked really odd with the window at the bottom.  haha.

A picnic wouldn't be complete without ants... right?

I love the sayings in the panels I used for the quilt.  They are so simple and good to live by.  "Treasure the little things in each new day."

"Celebrate the goodness of life."

"Life's goodness is all around us."

"Take time to imagine and build castles in the air."

#2 ENTERTAINMENT - The backing of my quilt was to have all the entertainment any perfect picnic would need.  On the left side was a hop scotch pad.  And on the top right side was a large checkerboard game and on the bottom right was a tic tac toe game.  Something for everyone!  Imagination comes into play again.  I didn't take any pictures of the back before I put it on the frame and I couldn't take the quilt out of the frame as it stopped just short of completing the row.  Have you ever tried to line up a pattern once a quilt has been removed and put back in the frame?  Trust me, you don't want to try it.

Hopscotch

Checkers 

Tic Tac Toe

#3, 4 & 5 - THE PICNIC BASKET, THE MENU, AND THE PHOTOS.  My not so perfect picnic that turned out to be a very nice picnic after all.  The King and I surveyed the local park for a spot and decided on one, then he came home on Saturday and said they were have a "car show" at the park.  Well snap, there goes that spot.  And then I remember a place we have never been that we've always want to go and never have.  It's Regency Bridge and it's about 30 miles from the house.

Regency Bridge is only one of 8 remaining suspension bridges in Texas and I believe I read somewhere that it's the only one you can drive across.  You can read about it  here and here.

A view of the Colorado river (that amazingly has water in this part of it).

I'm pretty close to the edge for me.  I don't like heights and I sure couldn't look down!

We found a nice flat of rocks just off to the side of the bridge.  Our picnic basket wasn't a Peterboro basket but it was a Longaberger Basket.  I own more than a few Longaberger baskets so I just couldn't justify purchasing another basket.  I think I have 3 large picnic baskets like this one and 2 of the small picnic baskets too.  On the menu was fried chicken (Mrs. Brookshire's Deli makes great fried chicken), homemade potato salad, fresh cantaloupe, french bread and roasted garlic dipping sauce and of course a slice of delicious "Bunko Pie".

Regency Bridge is out in the boon docks, way off the beaten path and we thought we would be all alone.  NOT!!!  We had just settled in for our picnic lunch when another car arrived and a couple walked across the bridge.  Then a few minutes later another couple came by. Both stopped and chatted with us.  Three other cars crossed the bridge as well and another car of 4 teens/young adults parked and walked across too.  The kids climbed the posts, which made my heart flutter.  Remember, I don't like heights!  It was a busy little spot in the middle of nowhere!

Do you see the hole behind the King?  There are actually 2 holes.  Legend has it that these were the rocks that the Comanche Indians ground corn on and they would grind it in these holes.  

I love all the graffiti on the rocks.

Another view of the bridge from our picnic rock.

I told you a picnic wouldn't be complete without the ants!  Can you see them trying to carry off our crumbs?  

Apparently there is a White Wolf Trading Post on the other side of the bridge but we didn't go in to see if it was open.  

Aren't the prickly pear cactus beautiful!  Well, at least when they bloom they're as pretty as cactus can be!  

The King revealed to me that he probably hasn't gone on a picnic since grade school and I can tell you that was a very long time ago!  It has been a long time since I've gone on one too but not quite THAT long!

Now, skedaddle out of here and check out the other picnics for today.  And after you've done that, plan your perfect picnic and GO ON ONE or two or more this summer!

Monday, June 9th

Cherry Blossoms

The Quilting Queen Online (You're in the Queen's Palace)

Mad Quilter's Disease

Daisy Days

Buzzing and Bumbling

From My Carolina Home

Sew We Quilt